CBI registers case against Ashok Todi

The CBI, which took over the investigation into the Rizwanur Rahman murder case four days ago at the direction of the Calcutta High Court, moved swiftly to register a case of murder and conspiracy against industrialist Ashok Todi and others on Friday.

Rizwanur, a 30-year-old graphics designer, had married Todi’s daughter Priyanka on August 21 against Todi’s wishes.

His body was found on the railway tracks at Patipukur — between Dum Dum and Bidhannagar Road stations — on Kolkata’s outskirts on September 18. Local police had initially insisted that Rizwanur had committed suicide by throwing himself before an approaching train.

But determined probing by the media revealed that Todi, owner of the Lux Cozi brand of underwear, along with his brother Anil Saraogi, had tried hard to separate the couple and urged senior officials of the Kolkata police, with whom they enjoyed an excellent rapport, to intervene and break up the marriage.

Todi complained to the police on September 1 that his daughter had

gone missing though he was already aware that she had secretly married Rizwanur.

He later told the police that Priyanka had been kidnapped, though investigations subsequently showed he had visited Rizwanur’s residence himself to persuade Priyanka to break off from her husband.

“The decision to register a case of murder was taken after a detailed study of the petition filed by Rizwanur's mother and brother in the Calcutta High Court, the order passed by the court and the circumstances leading to Rizwanur’s death,” said a senior CBI official in Delhi.

To obviate any attempt by Todi’s powerful industrialist family to influence the case, sources close to the CBI said that only officers from Delhi would be involved in the investigation and not the CBI's Kolkata unit.

“We want to ensure that no information is leaked during the course of the investigation,” a senior officer also added. The Delhi team, headed by a joint director, will report directly to CBI director Vijay Shankar.

CBI Director Vijay Shankar had earlier said that the agency will comply with the High Court order and complete the investigation within two months as directed.

Four officers of the Kolkata police, including two deputy commissioners, who allegedly threatened Rizwanur were transferred by chief minister on Tuesday along with the commissioner of police Prasun Mukherjee . The commissioner had defended the officers in public and declared that Rizwanur committed suicide even though the state CID had just started its investigation.